1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to processes and devices for menstrual cycle phase determination and, more particularly, is directed towards processes and devices for obtaining bodily mucus, chiefly cervical mucus and/or oral mucus, and for determining the rheological properties of the bodily mucus in order to predict and indicate the inception and the presence of ovulation for conception control.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been found that mucus samples from the vaginal and oral cavities undergo distinct in-phase rheological changes during the menstrual cycle. Although the changes in the cervical mucus are much more noticeable than the changes in the oral mucus, both changes are readily determinable. During the immediate preovulatory phase, for a period of one to three days under estrogen domination, the mucus is profuse and watery. During the postovulatory phase, under progestation, the mucus becomes less abundant and highly viscous. In healthy women with normal menstrual cycles, as is well documented in the medical literature, ovulation usually occurs between the 12th and 14th day prior to the next menstrual period. Specifically, cervical mucus is most hydrated (97 to 98% water) at the time of ovulation and is relatively dehydrated (80 to 90% water) at other times. The solid residue present after desiccation may range from 2% during ovulation to 20% at other times, a ten fold increase. Determining ovulation on the basis of the preceeding menstrual period, such as in the rythm method of counting the days ellapsed between the termination of the menstrual period phase and the presumed midcycle ovulatory phase, is prone to errors because of the great variability of this determination. Although it is possible to preduct ovulation on the basis of hormonal changes in the blood or chemical changes in the mucus, present procedures for such analyses have had limited use. Since present procedures are lengthly and costly, they are utilized only in special cases. At present, there are no known reliable on-the-spot techniques that are capable of providing the information necessary for prediction or confirmation of ovulation during or immediately following examination of a patient.